When you have a kid, the term all-nighter has a whole new meaning.
When my kids asked me what I wanted for my birthday - my first response was "sleep."
Sleep deprivation is a huge thing in parenting (especially the early days when you have a new-born baby who needs nightly feeds) and it's not much better in the toddler years either!
Here are a few signs that you are certainly sleep deprived parent!
- You are falling asleep in ridiculous places- If you are going to the toilet and finding yourself waking after a ten second nap it is time you got some sleep! The same goes for nearly falling asleep while queueing and wishing that you were in bed sleeping.
- You hand over your baby at the drop of a hat- You used to be really picky about anyone taking your tiny one and minding them so you could rest, but now you are wondering is it ok to ring up long lost friends or neighbours and beg them to take your baby for a few hours!
- You may have drank 6 cups of coffee today- Of course some have not got drank fully- such is the lifr of parenthood, but it isn’t even midday yet and your caffeine intake is through the roof. Maybe try some herbal tea instead or you might become a jittery, tired mess and start hallucinating!
- Your biggest fantasy is having a lie in- Your wishes have quite simply changed as before your ideal morning was a bit of retail therapy and brunch but now?! You would skip all that to spend until midday in bed, sleeping cosil. Oh what a dream it is!
- You nearly hit friends with no kids who say “I'm tired!”- Any of your pals who haven’t kids are visiting and they complain of being tired and of course you are feeling a little rage seep through you. How could your friend be tired? Have a child and see how tired you are! It takes every bit of restraint in your body not tolash out at your buddy, and she doesn’t even see the problem!
- Make up is having little effect on the bags under your eyes- It doesn’t matter how much concealer, blemish balm and foundation your bags are never going to be concealed as long as your baby keeps you up at night! Contouring is all the rage at the moment but how are you supposed to summon up the energy to do it? Forget it bags are part and parcel of parenthood, we all have them!
- You are incapable of thinking- I hear you scream- I was once a very intelligent person, and capable of holding a smart conversation! Where did it all go wrong? Now you can barely string sentences together and thank god your baby doesn’t need long conversations or you would be failing at parenting. When your partner arrives in after work he barely gets a nod, let alone a kiss.
Parenting is tiring business, and if you are exhausted ask for help as it is perfectly ok, and is really needed at times.
